Rebirth of a Soldier: Epsilon Ferrus
by Vincent Hales
Summary: Designed when X and Zero were being built. Built fifty years later. Found in stasis, fifty years from then. A mysterious Reploid with prototype systems has entered the fray of Maverick vs. Hunter... Which side will he choose? Please, Read and Review!


A/N:  This is my attempt at a story with characters all of my own creation, but still within the X universe.  I don't really see it going past four chapters, if that.  Although, it won't even get past _this_ chapter if it doesn't get any reviews.  I decided on a rather… _unique_ introduction…  I rather like how it worked out.

Disclaimer:  Even though I use no developed, trademarked characters, I _do_ use the basic universe created by Capcom for this story.  And so it is that I give them credit where credit is due…

Accessing data feed….

Data feed loading…

Retrieving active display…

Displaying data feed for subject "EPSILON"

Model Type:  Prototype Melee

Credited Creator:  Dr. Cossack

Manufacturer:  Icarius Industries

Approximate Cost:  4.3 million Zenny

Model Type:  Prototype Prototype

Energy Core:  Cold Fusion

Estimated Lifetime:  Unknown

Current Status:  Obsolete/Deactivated

…

…

End feed.

*

            The stasis pod's screen had displayed very little, only the very basics.  Dr. Aran was a bit leary about opening the pod without knowing more about the mysterious reploid inside.  If only she could find some more data on him…  From what she could see of the reploid through the pod's display window, this "Epsilon" was well built, with an excellent frame…  The design appeared to be nothing that she had ever seen before…

            Firmly set on finding _something_ more about this reploid, the young doctor began to pick her way through what was left of this room.  From what she could tell, it appeared to be some sort of research and development lab.  There were empty husks of computers lying about in the ruins of this sparse lab, but nothing that looked as if it would work…

            It was then that she spotted the lone blinking light in the corner…  Her hopes rising, she began to pick her way to it.  Aran prayed that this would be what she was looking for…  Standing over the blinking red light, she gingerly reached into the rubble and picked out a hand-held Comm unit.  It appeared to have remained intact, and it's power cell had remained functioning…  But, it wasn't what she was looking for, not really.

            Sighing loudly, she pocketed the unit, and drew her sleeve back, revealing the wrist unit that she wore, it appeared to be several things in one, not the least of which was her own Comm unit…  She spoke into it, saying, "I need an Excavation team and a cleanup crew in here.  Location point, 435E88Y1.  I will await pickup.  Aran out."

            Finished with her call, and apparently finished with her search, she sat down on a pile of rubble, feeling rather defeated.  If she could just find out something about this reploid…  There was no doubt in her mind that this was indeed a reploid, even though the date on its pod was from an era earlier than X had been discovered, but later than he was built…  X may have a kind of brother in this mysterious reploid…  If only she could discover something about him…

            Needing something to do with her hands, and having more than enough time to wait for the Ex. Team, she drew the Comm unit out of her pocket, and began to examine it.  It appeared to be in Power Save mode…  She reached over to the side and flicked the switch, and its screen flicked once, twice, and then it blinked on.  What she saw on the screen made her stand bolt upright.  It read, "Project EPSILON.  Audio records.  Data Records.  Special Files."

            Her hand trembling, she called up the Data records.  She found a few files on the personnel that worked on the project, but nothing much on the reploid…  It was mentioned a few times in conjunction to a Dr. Cossack, but there wasn't much else mentioned…  Disappointed, she called up the Audio records, expecting much the same as the Data records…  Her eyes widened as she was given a menu of options, including an option for the reploid's past, labeled "EPSILON History."

            Aran punched it up, and waited a few seconds while the file loaded, and then got to hear a rich, deep voice rumble out Epsilon's story.  Sounding as if it were giving a standard report, the voice said,

            "Project Epsilon, audio records, date withheld.  Report on Epsilon progress, and eventual shutdown.

            Epsilon was found by one of our excavation teams, digging in Russia.  It seemed that they had finally found the secret facility that Dr. Cossack had retired to.  Dr. Cossack, known for his work in the field of advanced robotics, had retired to this facility to, presumably, get away from all the distractions that the rest of humanity posed.  His work was what he lived for now…

            The Ex. Team found some discarded parts of starts on varios advanced robots, what appeared to be the body of Dr. Cossack, and three computers, which seemed to still be working.  After checking their databases, the Ex. Team found that these computers held different parts of the same design for a highly advanced robot.  So advanced it was almost an android…

            The designs had been dated fifty years prior to their discovery.  There were a few notes made in Russian, saying that the design lacked a few things that the good doctor was not able to give to his creation.  If it had not been for the "flaws" in the designs, Dr. Cossack would likely have built the thing.

            Our team brought the information on the computers back, downloaded into a palm unit.  Once at our Research and Development section, the downloaded designs were uploaded to the mainframe, and the researchers began to examine the designs.  We were looking for flaws that we could not either compensate for or directly redo.

            Three weeks passed as the designs were scrutinized by the best minds our organization had to offer.  Three weeks it took to weed out all the possible problems, and figure out proper replacements or compensations…  We were all excited by this discovery, and the fact that these designs were finally finished.  We could build it!  We only needed the authorization from the Leader.

            We got our authorization the very day we finished, and we started building our new creation the very next day.  We were given a few conditions for building it, though.  It was to be used as a covert operations unit, and, as such, it needed colors that would match it's environment, as well as systems that would allow it to do it's job…  The colors were not a problem, as the designs included a set of colors that matched the requirements beautifully.  We would save the systems for the programming stage, though…

            Slowly, we started on our baby.  Our newly christened project, Epsilon Ferrus.  Our first task was to build the endoskeleton, in which the majority of the weight and movement would be passing through.  The designs called for a material known as Titanium Super Alloy.  We decided to give it a little boost, and created our own alloy, called Platinite ally.  It was a combination of Titanium Super Alloy and Platinum.

            Once the endoskeleton was finished, we needed to build the wiring and the motor control systems, both primary and secondary.   That took us two weeks because of the complexity of the designs.  However, once finished, we were able to integrate it into the endoskeleton perfectly.  Our next task, though, was one of exceptional difficulty.

            The main power system.  The designs called for a cold fusion reactor as the primary energy generator, and a small micro-fusion reactor for the other systems, including back-up power.  The problem, though, was getting the authorization for this.  Cold fusion was still in the experimental stages, even fifty years after this was originally designed…  Grudgingly, we had our authorization.  We began our work on the cold fusion reactor, and the micro-fusion reactor simultaneously, with two teams.

            It took us nearly six weeks to finish the cold fusion reactor, three and a half weeks longer than it did to finish the micro-fusion reactor.  Once we finished, we had the task of placing the reactors in the chassis, and reinforcing said chassis.  We added three layers of extra-thin Platinite around the entire torso, hoping to add protection to what would undoubtedly be a weak spot if it were not reinforced.

            For five weeks we worked with the rest of the systems.  Redesigning some systems to today's standards, and working out some kinks in other systems.  However, it all paid off, and we were ready for the final step to having a humanoid robot/android.  We were ready for the sinth-skin.

            The designs for this were amazing!  It was decades past anything we had even theorized!  We were all excited, but we had a healthy amount of skepticism, ready to be prepared for failure…  We should never have doubted the designs.

            Not only did the sinth-skin fit perfectly, all of the sensory input/output devices that made up Epsilon's "nerves" integrated into the skin 100%.  With the skin fully integrated to the endoskeleton, we turned our attention to the designs once more…  What we saw was nothing short of amazing, not to mention mind boggling.

            Somehow, Dr. Cossack had discovered a way to give an artificial being fully functioning sexual organs.  His design included the specs for both male and female appearances…  We had only but to choose.  Needless to say, we were all shocked, and curious…

            It was a unanimous decision to make Epsilon a male, and to go ahead with the addition…  Very soon, we had a fully male android.  We could no longer fully classify him as a robot, so we began to refer to him as an android, though he never truly had the full qualities of an android, either.  We weren't quite sure what to call him, but for that time, 'android' seemed to fit…

            Once Epsilon's physical appearance was finished, we began work on his Armor and Weapons systems.  A task much more daunting than we had expected, actually…  It was because of Dr. Cossack's decision to use Cold Fusion as Epsilon's primary power source that we had rethink the armor systems, entirely.

            Why?  Well, the answer lies in the fact that, while Cold Fusion was a nearly limitless source of pure energy, it didn't have a large amount of energy output at any one time.  It was a power source designed to function over a long period of time, producing the same power levels for all that time.  No fluctuations.  So, since we knew that the Cold Fusion reactor at Epsilon's core would not power his Weapon's systems, let alone his Armor and Dash systems, we needed more power from somewhere else.

            Of course, the single micro fusion reactor that acted as Epsilon's back-up power could be used for this, however, it would not be able to take all of the stress.  We built a kind of interface into the armor where it could interface into his back-up micro fusion cell, but, we were going to rely on our next step, as it would produce twice as much power as the back-up power, and be much more reliable, as it would be solely devoted to the Armor and Weapon Systems.

            My colleagues and I decided to build two micro-fusion reactors into Epsilon's Armor.  These reactors would be what powered his primary systems.  He had two storage tanks fitted into his armor, located on his back.  Since we were building him to be used for military applications, we fitted the tanks in such a way that they appeared like thin, narrow swords, attached permanently to his back.  They gave him the appearance of having two blades over his shoulders.

            We reinforced the tanks, as best we could, and then we went on to the next part of the armor.  He needed to have state of the art sensory equipment, as well as effective weaponry.  We altered the designs only enough to fit him with a plasma cannon, tentatively being called the "Hammer", and to fit him with a kind of last resort attack called "ANVIL".  I wasn't privy to it's exact specs, but I do know that it was designed for maximum output, and minimum survival rate for its target.

            Of course, his Hammer gun could not be used indefinitely, as it _was_ running off of a limited power cell.  The micro-fusion cells could only take so much use for so long.  So, we turned to the original specs and our answer was found.  Plasma blades.  Dr. Cossack was a genius.  He had not only designed this masterpiece, but he had designed weapons that would function on their own power.  He was calling them Beam Swords.  Fascinating technology, really.

            They utilized a laser imaging system to give the blade parameters for it's length and width.  Then, the plasma would fill in the rest.  A very deadly weapon.  We, of course, had _much_ better laser imaging systems, and our plasma manipulation capacities were far beyond those of fifty years ago.  So, the end result of Epsilon's Beam Swords was, they were a good deal better than the original designs called for.  We even went so far as to build two different holding compartments for them.  His Gauntlets could function as concealed carry for his Swords.  Or, he could carry them for a draw from each hip, in a secure holster, of sorts, that also doubled as recharging ports for the Beam Swords.

            With the weapons finished, and the armor designed, we could turn to Epsilon's mobility.  He would be needing a way to keep his armor moving, and, according to the schematics, that was what the control jewel was for.  It was apparently used to filter all commands for movement.  Like a brain, of sorts.  A command for the arm to move would be sent through the jewel, and the power assist for the armor is activated by the jewel to move the arm.  This all happens before a nanosecond can pass by, as the jewel is the house of an extremely complicated processor.  The system worked so well, it was as if the armor wasn't there at all…

            Of course, the next and, apparently last, item on the list was his Dash system.  None of the team knew just exactly this Dash system was, at first examination, but, upon some practical tests in the labs, we discovered that the Dash system was indeed just that.  It was a kind of propulsion system designed to give extremely quick boosts in speed for Epsilon.  The system had several apparent redundancies, but we decided to leave them in, as, thus far, nothing had failed so far.

            We built the Dash system, and connected it directly to the Armor's micro fusion power cells.  Relatively little drain would come from use of this system, so we weren't concerned with adding the stress to the micro reactors.

            Finally, it seemed that we had finished with the masterpiece.  We were almost ready, when it was pointed out that he should be given an under-suit for protection against the elements, as well as padding for the armor, even though the armor was more than padded enough, and it had kinetic energy dampeners, to reduce the physical shock of blows received.

            We built the under-suit, matched the colors to the designs, and then proceeded with the detailing of the armor.  A basic background layer of an iridescent iron sheen, with the design running in a deep metallic midnight blue.  The under-suit, including the gloves was a dark shade of gray.  The helmet had a control jewel colored like the deepest shade of Amethyst, which seemed to almost glow next to the other colors of the armor…

            At last, Epsilon was structurally finished.  All we had left now, was the programming.  For that, we bowed out of the way, and let the military experts create personality algorithms, military training tactics modules, various other systems, and we took over when they were finished inputting what they wanted in our new creation.  We were the ones who gave him a true personality, though.  We followed the schematics, again, and built the reasoning chip, which was a curious piece of technology, for sure.  It apparently, would give our 'android' a kind of free will.  It wasn't exactly free will, but it could make its own decisions.  It could reason out situations, and decide for itself the best course of action.  It had a basic free will.

            Of course, it still answered to us, we made sure that it would.  We built a transponder into his helmet, that would act as a kind of direct feed into his positronic brain.  We could keep him docile and complacent to our wishes, _our_ needs.  Which was what the Leader wanted.

            After the reasoning chip was finished, it was a simple matter of programming the basic rules of Robotics into him, and giving him guidelines to right an wrong, ethics subroutines, basic personality algorithms (a variety so that, when he activated, he could choose the kind of person he wanted to be.)

            And that, unfortunately, was the end of our creation process.  Our work was finished.  We, the brilliant minds who had worked together to build this masterpiece were cast aside for a time, as our work had been done, and the Military had their new toy.  We were no longer needed.

            Apparently, Epsilon exceeded all of the Military's expectations, and was an even better covert ops operative than they could have hoped for.  All the field tests they put him through, he not only passed with flying colors, he set new standards for new recruits.  I hear that it's a lot harder to gain admittance into the Organization nowadays.

            However, once the Military started sending Epsilon out on actual missions where he sustained occasional damage, they realized that they would need the original team who had put him together in the first place to keep him from falling apart.  So, my colleagues and I had a job once more.  Thrilled and excited, though we were not, we were more than happy to render assistance to our baby.  And we _did_ render assistance, time and again.  For nearly six years.

            Then the terrorists started using bigger guns, and Epsilon was no longer the answer, as the Military only thought of him for covert operations, which, unfortunately, were about to be terminated, as a result of lack of ops…

            And so it was, with heavy hearts, we received the order to deactivate Epsilon and stick him into stasis, if ever we could use him again.  He was just obsolete, now.  A pity, really, that the Military couldn't see past what they _knew_ he could do, and see what he could _really_ do.  Such a pity… … …"

            Dr. Aran stood, slackjawed for a moment.  What she had just heard was nothing short of incredible.  This reploid was _incredible_, with a well documented history, as well.  It was nothing short of amazing!  She was so excited that she ran through the rest of the Audio Menu, and spotted a few more History records for Project Epsilon, some of them from the Military mentioned in the first entry.

            Excited from her discovery, she turned around, raising her wrist to speak into her Comm unit, only to face an unfamiliar Reploid.  It's armor was ambiguous enough that she could not tell what sex it was, but, that really didn't matter, not when she was staring down the barrel of it's Buster…

            "Tell your god, I said hi."  The reploid gave Dr. Aran this last order before it discharged its shot into her, the plasma vaporizing the flesh and utterly destroying the Comm unit that she had held in her hand…

            Again, the mysterious reploid spoke, it's voice emotionless, toneless, "The Lord should be pleased to have one such as _you_ added to his ranks."  Turning around, it motioned silently at the other four Mavericks, laying in wait in the shadows beyond.

            They quickly placed one use Warp generators around the stasis pod and its power source.  Again, with no words, and utter silence, the order to Warp is given, and five reploids warp away from the site, followed shortly by the Pod and it's Generator…

A/N:  Please, Read & Review.  It's the only way I'll know to keep up with this story, or to utterly abandon it.  Thanks.  If it's well liked, there'll be more.


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